Pediatric oncology

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I am just wondering what other units do as far as time lines go when it comes to getting chemo trained and bmt trained. I got chemo trained after 6 months on the unit and it well be 1.5 years at the time of the bmt class as a new grad. Does this seem fast, slow or average?

When I worked in the hospital, oncology was a relatively small part of the population on my floor. We were neurology, neurosurgery and neuro-oncology. Sometimes we had no oncology patients at all and other times, we had several of our own and several overflow general onc patients. Typically new nurses were not chemo trained until at least a year, but often times it was longer. On the heme/onc floor or stem cell transplant, it was much quicker because that was their sole population.

Like Kel said, it depends on the unit. At my hospital, BMT is its own unit and my unit is hem/onc. Our inpatients are scheduled chemo admits and acute illness. A 6 hour chemo class is required before you can give it. The orders are checked by two nurses, and it takes two nurses to start it. The APHON chemo class is available but not required for staff. Orientation is 16 weeks, during which you aren't allowed to be one of the nurses doing safety checks. From what I understand, BMT's orientation is about the same length.

I'm assuming your unit isn't strictly onc/bmt because that is a long time to have a staff member that can't give chemo.